Strengthening and Promoting the International Treaty Framework

A/RES/78/236View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 87Strengthening and promoting the international treaty framework, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

5 versions · 2019–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/170

2025A/RES/80/170Strengthening and promoting the international treaty frameworkLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/236Strengthening and promoting the international treaty frameworkCompare with previous version
2021A/RES/76/120Strengthening and promoting the international treaty frameworkCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/75/144Strengthening and promoting the international treaty frameworkCompare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/210Strengthening and promoting the international treaty framework

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Capacity Building Databases Publications Training Programmes Translation Treaties Treaty Registration

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2025.

2025A/80/132The role of technology in shaping treaty-making practice report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

17 operative paragraphs

Recalls Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, reaffirms the importance of the registration and publication of treaties, as well as their accessibility, and stresses that the regulations to give effect to Article 102 should be useful and relevant to Member States and should be kept updated to assist States in implementing their obligations thereunder;

Notes that some Member States continue to consider that there remain outstanding issues where the regulations may need further consideration;

Reaffirms its support for the annual treaty event organized by the Secretary-General;

Welcomes the organization of workshops on treaty law and practice by the Treaty Section at Headquarters and at the national and regional levels as an important capacity-building initiative, encourages the Treaty Section to continue to organize these workshops as regularly as possible, including through the use of information and communications technology when necessary owing to extraordinary circumstances, and invites States and interested international organizations and institutions to continue to support this activity;

Notes that workshops on treaty law and practice at the national and regional levels could not be organized since 2016, including owing to insufficiency of funds, invites States and interested organizations and institutions to make voluntary contributions to the trust fund established by the Secretary-General for the Office of Legal Affairs to support the promotion of international law, towards the financing of such workshops, or otherwise to assist in their implementation and possible expansion, as a complement to workshops on treaty law and practice held at Headquarters, and expresses its appreciation for the voluntary contribution made to support the organization of such workshops;

Welcomes efforts to build the capacity of States in treaty law and practice, and invites Member States to consider providing targeted technical assistance, upon request, at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels, in particular to developing countries, in order to develop and enhance their treaty practice, including in the use of information and communications technology;

Also welcomes the efforts made to develop and enhance the United Nations electronic treaty database, which provides online access to comprehensive information on the depositary functions of the Secretary-General and the registration and publication of treaties under Article 102 of the Charter, and encourages the continuation of such efforts in the future, while bearing in mind the challenges that many developing countries face in accessing information and communications technology;

Notes that most submissions of treaties for registration are in electronic format, and encourages the Secretary-General to develop, in consultation with and on the basis of feedback from Member States and within existing resources, an online treaty registration system to facilitate submissions of treaties for registration, as an additional option to the existing ways of submission in electronic or hard-copy format;

Recognizes the importance of the legal publications prepared by the Treaty Section, and stresses the need to update the Summary of Practice of the Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties in the light of new developments and practices;

Acknowledges the efforts of the depositaries in the registration of treaties under Article 102 of the Charter, and encourages the continuation of such efforts in the future;

Calls upon the Secretary-General to ensure the expedited publication of the United Nations Treaty Series, in accordance with the regulations, through the prompt provision of editorial and translation services, to enable effective dissemination of and access to treaties;

Also calls upon the Secretary-General to strengthen the capacity of the Treaty Section to perform its responsibilities and functions under the Charter, multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General and relevant General Assembly resolutions, as well as to meet the increasing demands in the performance of these functions;

Welcomes the thematic debate on “Best practices of depositaries of multilateral treaties”;

Takes note of the subtopics suggested by some Member States for consideration for future thematic debates, and requests the Secretariat to maintain a non-exhaustive indicative list of such subtopics and circulate it sufficiently in advance of the meetings of the Sixth Committee on the agenda item;

Decides to undertake a regular thematic debate in the Sixth Committee to foster a technical exchange of views on practice relating to the strengthening and promoting of the international treaty framework, and in that regard invites Member States to focus their comments during the debate at the eightieth session of the General Assembly on the subtopic “The role of technology in shaping treaty-making practice”, and requests the Secretary-General to invite Governments and international organizations to submit information on their practice in this regard, and to provide, at its eightieth session, a report with information on practice related to the subtopic taking into account these submissions;

Requests the Secretary-General to strengthen the capacity of the Treaty Section to support the regular thematic debate in the Sixth Committee, including for the preparation of the report on the subtopic selected for each session so that it can be made available sufficiently in advance of the meetings of the Sixth Committee on the agenda item;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eightieth session the item entitled “Strengthening and promoting the international treaty framework”.

50th (resumed) plenary meeting

22 December 2023

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